World Golf Tour

Winners and losers at LPGA Q-School

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(Editor's note: Golf Channel's Tom Abbott was on hand for the final day of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament and breaks down the winners and losers from the closing round:

The winners:

-Thailand's Junthima Gulyanamitta carded back-to-back 68's to claim victory. Sister Russy - 12 years her senior, and who played on tour from 2004-2010 - was on the bag.

-Veteran pro Meredith Duncan finished birdie-eagle, with a hole-out from 90 yards at the 18th to secure her card.

-England's Jodi Ewart chipped in on 18 to cap-off a successful week with sportscaster fiancé Adam Shadoff on the bag.

-Victoria Tanco, 17, from Argentina shot 69 on Sunday to climb inside the mark. After signing her card she turned professional. She'll turn 18 February 22nd.

-Hannah Yun suffered the horror of learning she had been assessed a two-shot penalty after she replaced her ball on the third green after it had inadvertently moved, thankfully she made it in by a shot.

-Lizette Salas birdied three consecutive holes to survive a nine-woman playoff and earn full membership in 2012. Salas is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, and her father, who introduced her to the game while he was working as a greenskeeper in California, was on hand to see his daughter secure her LPGA card.

The losers:

-Ginger Howard, 17, attracted a lot of media attention at the beginning of the week, but signed for a 74 on Sunday and missed out on LPGA membership by two shots.

-Despite earning her card, Stephanie Kono walked away somewhat disappointed. The Hawaii native started the week thinking she needed to play the final stage in order to secure Futures Tour membership, after two rounds she realized that wasn't the case. Having qualified on Sunday she could either turn down membership or turn professional and leave her UCLA teammates without a star player next season. A teary-eyed Kono chose the latter and now faces a hefty bill for tuition for the next two quarters as she is ineligible to receive her golf scholarship but still intends to finish her degree, at least she'll have the chance to off-set the cost with her LPGA earnings.

-Jacqui Concolino had a 15-foot putt on 18 to stop a nine-way playoff. She missed and then missed out in the giant playoff.

-Mariajo Uribe had to return to Q-School after finishing 103rd on the 2011 money ist. Uribe carded a final-round 76 and didn't better her status for next season. The Colombian, who successfully negotiated Q-School in ’09, may feel she didn't deserve to be here at all. She was the winner of the LPGA's HSBC Brazil Cup in May, but unfortunately for her, the tournament is yet to earn official status on the LPGA.

-Paola Moreno missed out on full status by just one shot in both ‘09 and ‘10. It was third time unlucky for Columbian Moreno, as she made her way into the nine-way playoff but once again walked away empty handed.

Twenty players earned full status (Category 11) for 2012, meaning roughly 10 to 15 starts next season depending on their performance. Ten players earned Category 16 status, giving them roughly eight to 12 tournaments and a further 10 players earned Category 20 status, which will mean in all likelihood only one or two LPGA starts in 2012. All the players in the field earned membership of the Symetra Tour for 2012.